Coal. Roughly 80 percent of the w~~ld output of coking .11 coal is produced by six countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, West Ge...
Coal. Roughly 80 percent of the w~~ld output of coking .11 coal is produced by six countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, West Germany, the U.S.S.R., China, and Poland. The United States has vast reserves of coal (5) and exports over . 10 percent of its total production, most of it metallurgical coal. A substantial part of the United States output is exported to Japan, Canada, and Western Europe. Bituminous coal is classified into two general grades-- steam coal and metallurgical coal. The most important market for steam coal is the electr ic utility industry. Domestic steel producers require metallurgical coal for the production of coke, which is a basic material required in blast furnaces -~:
; for the production of pig iron. Coking coal must be of high caloric value, of low to medium volatility, and of low ash and sulfur content. Since all desired properties are not often inherent in anyone type of coal, blends of coal are quite common. Steel producer s closely coord inate the i r coke production with their blast furnace operations. -36- Iron and Steel Scrap. The third major raw material for the production of steel is iron and steel scrap. As seen in table 2.12, the United States has had a strong position in the exporting of scrap. The U.S. has traditionally been the world's largest exporter of scrap. Scrap iron is usually divided into three general classifications: horne scrap (sometimes call "mill revert"), prompt industrial scrap, and obsolescence scrap..
'.Home scrap originates in steel mills in the processing of steel into var ious shapes and products; prompt industrial scrap or iginates in companies that stamp and machine metal; and obsolescence scrap consists of junked cars, appliances, and other metal items. In volume, home scrap is by far the largest, amounting to approximately 66 percent of total scrap consumed in 1970. About 20 percent of the total is prompt industrial scrap, and about 13 percent is obsolescence scrap (primarily old cars). Home scrap is essentially the difference between liquid steel production and steel mi 11 shipments, and consists of ingot scrapings, spills of hot pig iron, and steel mill or foundry product trimmings, ends, and rejected materials. In the short run, the supply of home sC.rap is completely priceinelastic, since the amount of scrap generated at steel mills varies directly with liquid steel production. Since the amount of home scrap recycled is essentially equal to the amount generated, it is simply inventory that is turned over rapidly.
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